Google Confirms End Of Life For Pixel Phones, Android P Could Be The Last

You can now find the Google Pixel on the company’s end-of-life support page. This page details the timeline for Android versions and security patches for products. The update to the Pixel page indicates that the search giant does not guarantee Android updates for the Pixel and XL after October 2018.

Android P could be last Android update for Pixel and XL

According to Google’s end-of-life support page, the Pixel phones will get updates for at least two years from the time they first became available on the Google Store. This does not come as a surprise, as Google’s update schedule has been more or less the same with Nexus devices too – Android updates for two years and security updates for three years or 18 months after the stock runs out on the online store, notes GSMArena.

Since the Pixel was released in October, the handsets will get “guaranteed” Android updates until October 2018. The word “guaranteed” here does suggest that after October 2018, the company may or may not update the phones to the latest Android version. The Pixel phones will continue to get security updates for at least three years or at least 18 months from the last device sold, whichever is longer. So the Pixel and XL will at max get security updates until October 2019.

Google’s Pixel phones released last fall came with Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box. Later this year, they will get Android O, and in 2018, they will be eligible for Android P. After that there is no guarantee on whether they will get the 2019 Android version. Android O is already available as a beta for the Pixel and Pixel XL. The final version is expected to come this fall, probably with the launch of the new Pixel phones.

Devices bought from Google Store to get updates sooner

Google did inform consumers about its update plans at the launch of the phones also, saying they will get guaranteed software updates until 2018, notes IndianExpress.

It confirmed the same thing on its support page: “Pixel phones get Android version updates for at least 2 years from when the device became available on the Google Store. After 2 years, we can’t guarantee additional updates.”

The Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X will get Android version updates until September 2017, while security updates will come until September 2018. Other devices like the Nexus 9 tablet and Nexus 6 smartphone will get security updates until October 2017 and Android version updates till October 2016.

The company says Google Play edition devices “get updates from the device manufacturers, not directly from Google.” The Android One devices will “get the latest version of Android from Google’s hardware partners.”

Further, according to Google’s “Check & update your Android version” page, the Pixel phones will get the latest Android version directly from the company. Users who bought the Pixel and XL from the Google Store will get the latest Android updates within two weeks. Those who bought the smartphones from elsewhere will have to wait longer. The same applies to Nexus devices also.

Author: Aman JainAman is MBA (Finance) with an experience on both Marketing and Finance side. He has worked as a Risk Analyst for AIR Worldwide, and is currently leading VeRa FinServ, a Financial Research firm. Favorite pastimes include watching science fiction movies, reviewing tech gadgets, playing PC games and cricket. - Email him at amanjain@valuewalk.com